The UnConference you had always dreamt of

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As with every year, we would like to acknowledge our wonderful sponsors. We appreciate their continued support of The Goa Project and our endeavors. Introducing our awesome sponsors…Microsoft Ventures, an initiative that supports and partners with promising start-ups from across the globe, empowers entrepreneurs to do more and aim higher. Start-ups focused on business growth and development, industrial strength technology and smart, quality, usable products are incubated and the companies helped to achieve more. For more, visit their website: https://www.microsoftventures.com

Thoughtworks is a global company which aims at revolutionizing software design and delivery. Passionate, driven and purpose-led people come together to form the ‘ThoughtWorkers’. They work with people and organizations which have ambitious missions – whether they are in the commercial, social or government sectors. ThoughtWorks also collaborate with organizations with a humanitarian mission and help them leverage technology to make a strong social impact. ThoughtWorks is a thought leader when it comes to learning and sharing knowledge. They fuel this process by writing books, blogging, conducting events and taking part in conferences. Check out their website: https://www.thoughtworks.com

In keeping with its commitment to partner with Indian small businesses for their success, Intuit has launched QuickBooks in India, which has become its flagship product in India. QuickBooks is the world’s No.1 business and financial management software for small businesses. It’s a simple online software for business owners to make informed decisions. It helps business owners organize finances and complies with managerial accounting standards. More information is available at: www.quickbooksonline.in

Miller is famous for its golden amber hue, a lacy head and a brew that is perfectly balanced and deliciously smooth. So raise a toast to the Highlife. As they say “ITS Miller TIME” somewhere in the world.

UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), with headquarters in London and Glasgow, is responsible for international trade and investment. UKTI works with UK based businesses, helping them to achieve their potential and succeed in international markets through exports. They also offer their services and support to overseas companies looking to invest or expand their business in the UK, and highlight the UK as the best place for their investments. For complete details, click here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-trade-investment/about

Wishberry is a crowdfunding platform. They aim to bring great ideas to life and build a community of believers who back ideas, thus putting India on the creative map of the world. Wishberry accepts projects which are creative and out of the box, across 13 main genres including Arts & Crafts, Films, Food etc. Following an All or Nothing model, Wishberry makes money only when the campaign meets its goal! A dynamic team with mostly women, Wishberry is one of the most successful crowdfunding platforms in India. Check out their website and start backing great projects: https://www.wishberry.inNowFloats believe that technology, or rather the lack thereof, shouldn’t get in the way of businesses being able to use the internet to grow their bottom line. They have developed a solution where they give small and medium businesses a world-class website that they can update simply and easily using nothing more than regular SMS. Furthermore, their patent pending technology ensures that these messages pop up on popular search engines. Visit the NowFloats website at: http://nowfloats.com/Home/Why

LetsVenture started off with a simple vision of making fundraising easy for Indian startups. It has now grown into a power packed platform which connects Startups with global Angels, VCs and Startup Programs. Apart from bringing together startups and investors, LetsVenture’s expert team also reviews the business plans of startups and connects them to mentors. Their Commitment-to-Closure package takes care of closure of term sheet & shareholders agreement, and complete legal & financial due diligence. With an exciting team of dreamers, doers and believers, LetsVenture has set out to shake things up in the Indian startup ecosystem. Check out their website here: https://letsventure.com/

As the countdown for The Goa Project has turned from months to just weeks now, we thought it was time to introduce you all to our awesome sponsors!

We begin the series with ThoughtWorks, a Bangalore based software company.

ThoughtWorks is an energetic global company based out of Bangalore. The company thrives on challenges and creative disruption, working with ambitious organizations to help them achieve their missions across business sectors. From getting ideas to market quickly to creating products to integration of new digital technology with core systems, ThoughtWorks is involved in every aspect.

ThoughtWorks believes in sharing knowledge and learning, and does this by writing books, blogging, hosting and running events. The company is also a vocal champion of open source.

ThoughtWorks believes in the power of software as tools for social change, and works to empower organizations with technology, in order to create a positive impact in the world.

We believe in sharing what we learn by writing books, blogging, running events and championing open source. We also believe in the power of software as tools for social change and empower organizations with technology, to create a positive impact.

Performing arts includes theatre, performance art and dance and movement. This year we hope to look at the merging divides between these areas, find new paths for performance that connect more to audience within the country and across the globe, bridge the gap between technology and performance, find new ways to spread these learnings and understandings within the performance field, and ultimately, recreate the magic of performance and find life and soul in it.

In the first Goa Project, we talked about engaging with audiences more. This year we want to look at the kind of interactive performances that performance makers are now engaging in, be it a murder mystery game set across three different cities simultaneously, or interactive performances where audiences drive the characters to some kind of resolution in their lives. How far can we take interactivity and therefore audience participation and audience satisfaction? We’ve had Bharatanatyam for engineers and entrepreneurs, discussed how storytelling can democratise culture. This year we want to extend that further and look at language barriers, in order to make theatre and performance more accessible to people. We expect a lot of experiential sessions, including creating plays on the go, costume dramas, contact improvisation, and much more. If people spoke about how the performing arts had changed someone’s life last year, this year we will look at dance, movement and theatre therapy in a bigger way.

But because we in the performing arts like spontaneity and trust our instincts, we really want people to simply talk their heart and soul out – even if it is about healthcare specifically for performers, or if you simply want to feel, deep down. Specifically, we have identified some areas that we would like to look at. Feel free to break free of these rough ideas. It is after all, an unconference.

1. Contemporary relevance

Are the shows we see today live stories people want to watch? How can we bridge the divide between the urban, rural and tribal performing arts? Does a story from one such group have relevance for the other? Does language play any role here? Can folk/traditional/classical performance have any meaning for modern westernised audiences?

2. Transforming spaces and transformative spaces

From warehouses to ruins to railway stations to living rooms in people’s homes, dance and theatre makers, flash mobs and other artists are breaking traditional notions of where theatre or dance may be performed. How does this affect the way audiences view and participate in such activities? When does interactive performance become living performance? Can such audience participation bring about transformation in audiences, and can the rasa experienced by the audience or the catharsis experienced by them in turn transform the theatre?

3. Fresh approaches to teaching theatre and dance

How are pedagogic practices around the performing arts changing, and growing? Theatre and dance are embedding themselves in a range of locations – from schools and educational institutions to community centres to alternative public and private spaces. Consequently, how are artists evolving interdisciplinary approaches to teaching theatre or dance? How do they use the performing arts as a creative resource to work with varied groups of people?

4. Bridging the performing arts and technology

In an age where the live arts have been overrun by the visual extravagance and jugglery of cinema, how can performance not only survive, but also thrive and thrill? How can technology be used more effectively on stage to create magic? What role can ancient/local technology play in this? How can we create shows that have the technical prowess of or, even better, are technically superior to the stage shows of London’s Westend or New York’s Broadway? Can such shows be created at costs affordable to developing nations such as ours?

This year, the track is being curated by Ranjana Dave and Padma Damodaran. Ranjana, an Odissi dancer and dance writer, currently runs Dance Dialogues, an initiative that connects dance makers and dance lovers to provocative and diverse artists, individuals and institutions. Padma is an actress and can currently be seen in Colourblind by Manav Kaul and the Boy Who Stopped Smiling, written by Ramu Ramnathan. She was one of the founding co-convenors of the Drama School Mumbai. Read more about them on our website.

Ranjana can be contacted at ranjana.dave@gmail.com. Padma can be contacted at padma.daran@gmail.com or +918879243043.

So, you’ve submitted a proposal for Projects at TGP. We are glad you’ve chosen to share your dream and project with us, and our team are working hard to review all the projects. The 5 chosen projects will be announced very shortly, on Monday, January 12th, 2015. In the meantime, we hope you are registered to attend TGP!

Whether or not yours is one of the 5 chosen, the TGP forum brings together innovators, creators, thinkers and doers together. Visionaries in the arts, design, advertising, film-making, technology and science, amongst other fields, will be in Goa mingling and learning and sharing, over the course of the 2 days. So, even if you’re not one of the 5 final projects, this forum is exactly the place you want to be, to tap into the attendees and their expertise and advice to strengthen your ideas and take your project idea to the next level. With so many diverse folk in one place, you never know what thinking and talent will emerge!

And since you’ve submitted a project, we will give you, and the entire team on your project sumbission, the registration rates for the day you submitted – just let us know in the “What are you working on” section of the form, that you’ve applied for TGP Projects, and the name of your project.

And speaking of 50 days – we do hope you’ve made your travel and stay arrangements in Goa for February 26th to 28th – don’t leave it to the last minute! Our hospitality team is on hand to help you with arrangements; drop them a line at: hospitality@thegoaproject.com

Wishing all the projects the very best of luck, and we look forward to meeting you at TGP 2015!

We’re counting down the days now as we prepare for the second edition of The Goa Project 2014.

Our activities reach a peak as we tie-up loose ends, finalise our partnerships and sponsors, give finishing touches to our schedule and make sure all our logistics are in place. A team of nearly 30-35 folks work behind the scenes to make this event happen!

We’ve chosen a beautiful venue this year – the Stonewater Eco Resort, located in Chicalim, not too far from the airport.

Neena Jhanjee, from the organizing team, dropped by at the venue recently and sent us back these wonderful pictures. A quick walk through to give you a glimpse of the wonderful location – don’t you wish this week flies and Friday comes really quickly?

A view of the resort by the water. And yes, we do intend to work!

A view of the restaurant, where we’re hoping we don’t spend too much time!

This is where you’ll be attending workshops

The main dias, which you probably won’t recognise on the day of the event

Lovely views from the restaurant

A green space which will be converted to a stage for one of the tracks

And stop dreaming! There’s loads of work to do yet

See you folks on February 7 and 8 – we’re looking forward to it! And if you reach early, like some of us, come say hello at the resort on the 6th evening – we’ll probably be lounging by the poolside.

Okay, it’s possible that we’ll be working really hard. But we have the lovely folks at Desmondji, who have promised to ply us with a variety of cocktails for the evening. And we’re not very good at saying “no”. So all of you around on the 6th, drop in for a drink. And some pre-event madness. See you there!